Towards Zero: Review

Disclaimer: I haven’t watched all three episodes of the BBC adaptation of Towards Zero yet. I’m being old school and watching each episode a week at a time rather than binge watching it. But, if I’m being honest, I haven’t really had any inclination to binge this series, it’s all been a bit slow and, for such a brilliant, twisty novel, just a bit boring.

Agatha Christie didn’t write boring books. There are a few poor ones, but even those often had a flash of humour, or a good character, at least something to recommend. Towards Zero is one of my very favourite stand alone stories, it is full of great characters, twists and turns, and a genuinely nasty plot twist reason for the crimes. All this made me very excited about the adaptation. So what went wrong?

Firstly, let me say what I do like about it.

The series looks incredible. All the characters are so beautifully dressed, particularly Audrey and Kay, who have wardrobes to die for. The cast is wonderful, Angelica Huston is always a joy to behold and her accent is impeccable. I have no problem with Matthew Rhys as the new police detective character, Inspector Leach ( spoiler -no Inspector Battle in this one), and I loved Anjana Vasan in Wicked Little Letters, and she is great in this. The house, and the Cornish coast, are also incredibly enjoyable, and I really enjoyed the scene setting divorce case which was a clever opening to the first episode.

So why am I not enjoying this enough?

Audrey!

The main reason I’m not enjoying this is the change to the character of Audrey. In the book I found Audrey to be a reserved lady, fairly meek and mild, a cipher for all that happens to her. Here Audrey, played by Ella Lily Hyland, is more like a hard boiled 1930’s dame, sharp and glamorous and fairly brittle. She has a coolness that borders on just being cold. You can’t see any man leaving her for another woman, even one as gorgeous as Kay (Mimi Keene).

I generally don’t mind changes to the story, or the addition or removal of characters. But, for me at least, Audrey’s almost docile character was absolutely integral to the story, and these changes jar with me.

And another thing…

And now lets move on to the elephant in the room…that sex scene. Now, I’m no prude, and I’m sure that if Agatha was writing in the 21st century, she probably would have added a few racy scenes to her books. But that scene between Audrey and Guy (played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen) again is all wrong. It turns Audrey into a woman who will have sex with a man, virtually in public, whilst his new wife is just in the next room. No, no, no.

I will finish watching Towards Zero. I’ve committed two hours now so need to finish what I’ve started. But, in all honesty, I prefer the version from ITV that added Miss Marple to the proceedings.

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